(AKA: “Thoughts on code smells” and how “high brow” they have become)

We have a habit of talking about “code smells” to indicate patterns and practices that our experience has shown can be problematic. Many of these “smells” are backed by a lot of data and really are legitimate problems to avoid. These are constructs and tools that often have few legitimate uses. But many so called “smells” really aren’t significantly bad. Let’s dive into some of the nuance here and talk a bit about why our word choice matters.

I have been building a computer. Not assembling components, but actually designing and wiring it from scratch onto prototyping breadboards. I’ve decided to start writing about the project here on my blog. I have no idea how many posts this will wind up being, or if there even will be others. Let me start by telling you what I’m building.